The present invention relates generally to medical appliance securement devices and relates more particularly to a novel medical appliance securement device.
Various medical appliances, or portions thereof, are shaped as generally tubular members. An example of one such medical appliance is a medical catheter. Medical catheters exist for many different applications. One type of medical catheter is a Foley catheter. A Foley catheter is a tubular member that is commonly used to drain urine from a patient. Typically, a Foley catheter is Y-shaped and includes two distinct channels. One of the two channels is open at both ends and is used to conduct urine from the bladder into a collection bag or the like. The other channel has a valve and connects to a balloon, which is used to prevent the catheter from slipping out of the bladder.
There is often a need to secure Foley catheters and other such tubular devices to or near a patient's body so that the devices can appropriately function. For this purpose, medical practitioners and others have often used one or more strips of conventional, medical-grade, adhesive tape to secure a length of the tubular device directly to a patient's skin. However, this method has its shortcomings as the adhesive tape tends to become loose over time. In addition, each time that one wishes to adjust the placement of the medical appliance or each time that one wishes to remove the medical appliance from the patient, the adhesive tape must be removed from the skin of the patient, thereby frequently causing irritation and discomfort to the patient. Moreover, it is important that the catheter be secured to the patient in such a way as to minimize rolling movement of the catheter, particularly when the patient moves.
The following documents, all of which are incorporated herein by reference, may be of interest: U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,748, inventor Johnson, which issued Aug. 28, 1979; U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,700, inventor Tollini, which issued Dec. 11, 1990; U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,322, inventors Bowen et al., which issued Sep. 15, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,146, inventors Johnson et al., which issued Apr. 19, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,660 B1, inventor Russo, which issued Jul. 16, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 9,233,228 B1, inventors LeLievre et al., which issued Jan. 12, 2016; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2006/0041233 A1, inventor Bowen, which was published Feb. 23, 2006; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2011/0166529 A1, inventors LeLievre et al., which was published Jul. 7, 2011; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2013/0096507 A1, inventor LeLievre, which was published Apr. 18, 2013.